Fox Corporation (FOX): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

How does Fox Corporation (FOX), a media giant with a market capitalization of approximately $28.84 billion as of November 2025, continue to defintely navigate the volatile world of news, sports, and entertainment broadcasting? You need to know that for fiscal year 2025, the company delivered total revenues of $16.30 billion and a net income of $2.29 billion, a performance largely driven by the impact of Super Bowl LIX and the accelerating digital growth of its Tubi AVOD service. The real question for investors is whether their aggressive capital allocation-including a recent $5 billion increase to the share repurchase authorization-can sustain this momentum against the backdrop of shifting affiliate fee (the fees cable providers pay to carry channels) models.

Fox Corporation (FOX) History

You might think of the Fox brand as decades-old, but the modern Fox Corporation is a surprisingly young company, born out of one of the biggest media transactions in history. It's not the original movie studio, but the focused, streamlined entity built to dominate live news and sports. This spin-off was a clear, strategic move to concentrate on high-margin, must-have content, and the 2025 fiscal year results-like the $16.30 billion in total revenues-show that focus is paying off.

The company you see today is a direct answer to the changing media landscape, a deliberate effort to cut the cord on non-core assets and double down on what drives immediate, mass-market viewership: live events and real-time news. Honestly, it was a brilliant play to simplify the business model.

Fox Corporation's Founding Timeline

Year established

The modern Fox Corporation was officially established on March 19, 2019.

Original location

The company is headquartered in New York, NY, at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, though it is incorporated in Reno, Nevada.

Founding team members

The company was formed and is controlled by the Murdoch family. Key figures at its establishment were:

• Rupert Murdoch: Chairman Emeritus
• Lachlan Murdoch: Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
• John P. Nallen: Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Initial capital/funding

Fox Corporation was created through a spin-off of the assets that The Walt Disney Company did not acquire from 21st Century Fox. The initial capital was essentially the value of the retained assets-primarily news, sports, and broadcast networks-following the $71.3 billion sale of the entertainment studios and cable assets to Disney.

Fox Corporation's Evolution Milestones

Fox Corporation's Transformative Moments

The single most transformative decision was the 2019 spin-off itself. It redefined the company, moving it from a diversified media conglomerate to a pure-play content provider focused on live, must-see programming. This shift is why they saw a 26% surge in advertising revenues for fiscal 2025, driven by events like Super Bowl LIX and political advertising.

The other major transformation has been the aggressive push into digital and streaming, particularly with Tubi. The $440 million Tubi acquisition in 2020 wasn't just a purchase; it was a pivot to capture the ad-supported streaming market. Now, Tubi is a significant growth driver, with its revenue climbing by 19% in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 alone. That's defintely a smart hedge against linear TV decline.

The recent launch of FOX One in August 2025 is the next big step, creating a premium, targeted offering that bundles all the Fox brands for a cordless audience. Plus, the company's financial strength allowed for a $5 billion increase to its share repurchase authorization in 2025, bringing the total to $12 billion-a clear signal of confidence in the company's trajectory and a commitment to shareholder returns. This is how a focused strategy translates to tangible shareholder value. For a deeper dive into the numbers, check out Breaking Down Fox Corporation (FOX) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Fox Corporation (FOX) Ownership Structure

Fox Corporation's ownership structure is a classic example of a dual-class share arrangement, which allows the Murdoch family to maintain firm control over the company's strategic direction despite holding a minority economic stake. This structure centralizes decision-making, with Lachlan Murdoch cemented as the controlling figure following a significant family settlement in September 2025.

Fox Corporation's Current Status

Fox Corporation is a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, listed under two ticker symbols: FOXA for Class A common stock and FOX for Class B common stock. The crucial distinction is in the voting rights: Class A shares are non-voting, while Class B shares carry one vote per share. This dual-class structure is the mechanism that ensures the Murdoch family, through its trust, retains voting control.

As of November 2025, the Murdoch Family Trust, now controlled by Lachlan Murdoch, holds approximately 36.2% of the high-vote Class B stock. This concentration of voting power means that most individual and institutional shareholders, who primarily hold the non-voting Class A shares, have limited influence on corporate governance matters. This is defintely a key factor to consider when Exploring Fox Corporation (FOX) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Fox Corporation's Ownership Breakdown

While the Murdoch family controls the vote, the majority of the company's economic value is held by large institutional investors. Here's the quick math on the economic ownership breakdown as of the 2025 fiscal year data, which shows where the capital is actually parked:

Fox Corporation's Leadership

The company is steered by a tight-knit executive team with deep roots in the media industry, ensuring a consistent strategic vision focused on live news and sports content. The September 2025 family settlement clarified the long-term leadership, putting all strategic and operational control squarely with Lachlan Murdoch.

The key leadership structure as of November 2025 includes:

• Lachlan Murdoch: Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He is the undisputed leader, overseeing the entire portfolio.
• Rupert Murdoch: Chairman Emeritus. He stepped down as Chairman in November 2023 but remains a significant advisory figure.
• John P. Nallen: President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). He manages the finance, strategy, and distribution organizations.
• Adam G. Ciongoli: Chief Legal and Policy Officer. He leads all legal, compliance, and regulatory matters.

Beyond the corporate level, the business is run by strong divisional CEOs, which is how you manage a decentralized media empire:

• Suzanne Scott: CEO of FOX News Media.
• Eric Shanks: CEO and Executive Producer of FOX Sports.
• Rob Wade: CEO of FOX Entertainment.
• Paul Cheesbrough: CEO of Tubi Media Group.

Fox Corporation (FOX) Mission and Values

You're looking beyond the stock ticker to understand the engine driving Fox Corporation's decisions, and that's smart. The company's core purpose is a dual mandate: deliver compelling live content to a broad audience and, in doing so, maximize shareholder value.

Given Company's Core Purpose

Fox Corporation's cultural DNA is rooted in the principles of free expression and journalistic independence, even as it aggressively pursues digital growth and financial performance. It's a media company, so content is king, but the ultimate metric is the value it creates for you, the investor.

Here's the quick math: the focus on live news and sports is a direct reflection of this mission, as live content commands premium advertising rates. This strategy helped drive fiscal year 2025 sales to an impressive $16.3 billion, with advertising revenue alone up 26%. That's a clear line from purpose to profit.

Official mission statement

While Fox Corporation doesn't publish a single, formally declared mission statement, its consistent actions and strategic priorities point to a clear, inferred purpose. This mission is a blend of content delivery, innovation, and financial commitment.

• Deliver compelling news, sports, and entertainment content that resonates with a wide audience.
• Utilize innovation and creativity to stay ahead in the media landscape.
• Create value for shareholders through strategic investments and operational excellence.

The commitment to innovation is defintely visible in the success of platforms like Tubi, which generated $330 million in advertising revenue in the third quarter of 2025 alone. You can see how these content and digital strategies underpin the financial health of the business in Breaking Down Fox Corporation (FOX) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Vision statement

The vision is about market leadership and global influence, but it's anchored to a clear financial outcome. Being a leader means owning the most valuable content segments-live news and sports-and adapting faster than competitors.

• Lead the media industry through innovation.
• Deliver unparalleled news, sports, and entertainment experiences globally.
• Maximize shareholder value through strategic growth and digital expansion.

A key part of this vision is expanding digital reach to capture the 'cord-cutter' market, which is why the company is focused on the growth of its streaming and digital platforms.

Given Company slogan/tagline

Fox Corporation does not employ a single, corporate-wide slogan, preferring to use specific taglines for its powerful individual brands that reflect their immediate purpose. This allows each segment to speak directly to its audience.

• FOX News Media: Uses taglines like 'The right voices. At the right time.' to promote its primetime opinion and commentary lineup.
• FOX Weather: Employs phrases such as 'For All Seasons. For All America.' and 'Weathering it Together,' emphasizing broad accessibility and community.

The absence of a unified corporate slogan suggests a decentralized operating model where brand identity is built at the content level, where the audience connection is strongest. It's a pragmatic approach for a diverse media portfolio.

Fox Corporation (FOX) How It Works

Fox Corporation operates as a focused media and entertainment company, primarily generating revenue by distributing high-value, live content-news and sports-across its broadcast, cable, and rapidly expanding digital platforms.

The company creates value for advertisers and distributors by aggregating large, engaged audiences through its iconic brands, which drove total revenues for fiscal year 2025 to a record $16.30 billion.

Fox Corporation's Product/Service Portfolio

Fox Corporation's Operational Framework

The operational engine of Fox Corporation is built on a dual-revenue model that monetizes content through both distribution fees and advertising sales, a strategy that delivered a full-year Adjusted EBITDA of $3.62 billion in fiscal 2025.

• Content Acquisition and Amortization: Secure long-term, high-cost programming rights, particularly for live sports, which are then amortized (expensed) over the contract life. This is a major expense, but it is defintely worth it for the high-margin, live audience.
• Affiliate Fee Monetization: Negotiate carriage agreements with cable, satellite, and virtual multi-channel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to collect affiliate fees. This provided $6.93 billion in Cable Network Programming segment revenue in FY 2025.
• Advertising Sales Optimization: Sell ad inventory across broadcast, cable, and digital platforms. High-profile events like the Super Bowl and political cycles drive significant spikes, fueling the Television segment's $9.33 billion in FY 2025 revenue.
• Digital-First Distribution: Strategically expand the digital footprint through Tubi and the new FOX One platform, ensuring content reaches audiences shifting away from traditional cable bundles. Tubi's revenue is expected to exceed $1 billion for the fiscal year, showing this is working.

Fox Corporation's Strategic Advantages

Fox Corporation's market success is grounded in its focus on live content and its diversified revenue streams, which insulate it better than pure-play entertainment companies.

• Dominance in Live Content: The company holds a powerful position in live news and sports, which are resilient to ad-skipping and cord-cutting. FOX News Media remains the clear leader in cable news and was at times the most-watched channel in all of television in fiscal 2025.
• High-Growth Digital Platform (Tubi): Tubi is a leading ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service. Its rapid user growth and over 100 million monthly active users provide a crucial, high-margin, and future-proof digital advertising engine.
• Financial Strength and Capital Return: A strong balance sheet with approximately $5.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2025, allows for strategic investments and a commitment to shareholder value. The total share repurchase authorization was increased to $12 billion in fiscal 2025.
• Leverage in Distribution: The must-have nature of FOX Sports' premium rights (like the NFL) and FOX News' audience gives the company significant leverage in negotiating favorable affiliate fee rate increases with distributors. This is the core of their Cable Network Programming segment's profitability.

For a deeper dive into the numbers behind these operations, check out Breaking Down Fox Corporation (FOX) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Fox Corporation (FOX) How It Makes Money

Fox Corporation generates its revenue primarily through a dual stream of affiliate fees paid by cable and satellite providers, and advertising sales across its broadcast, cable, and rapidly growing digital platforms like Tubi. This structure insulates the business somewhat from the volatility of a single revenue source, but still ties its health to both traditional pay-TV distribution and the shifting digital ad market.

Fox Corporation's Revenue Breakdown

For the full fiscal year 2025, Fox Corporation reported total revenues of $16.30 billion. The revenue mix clearly shows the continued importance of distribution fees, even as advertising-especially digital advertising-drives significant growth.

Business Economics

The core economics of Fox Corporation are a balancing act between guaranteed, high-margin affiliate fees and volatile, high-upside advertising revenue, all while managing escalating content costs. Honestly, it's a media company classic: pay-TV is the anchor, but digital is the future growth engine.

• Affiliate Fees: These fees, totaling $7.66 billion in fiscal 2025, are the most stable revenue source. They grow mainly through contractual rate increases with cable and satellite providers, which are often non-negotiable for carriers wanting to offer key channels like FOX News Channel and FS1. The challenge? These increases are partially offset by the ongoing decline in pay-TV subscribers (cord-cutting).
• Advertising Revenue: Advertising surged by 26% to $6.87 billion in fiscal 2025, heavily influenced by cyclical events like the broadcast of Super Bowl LIX and higher political advertising spend. Digital growth, especially from the Tubi advertising-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) service, is a structural driver, with Tubi's total view time growing 13% in the year.
• Pricing Strategy: Fox Corporation employs premium pricing for its live content, particularly sports and news. For example, the launch of the FOX One direct-to-consumer (D2C) streaming service, priced at an anticipated $19.99 per month or $199.99 annually, signals a push to capture more direct subscription revenue and control the distribution of its most valuable content.
• Cost Structure: The biggest cost pressure comes from sports programming rights amortization and production costs. Securing premium live sports-like the NFL-is essential to maintaining high affiliate fees and attracting top-tier advertisers, but it requires significant capital outlay.

If you want to understand the strategic thinking behind these choices, you should review the company's core principles: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Fox Corporation (FOX).

Fox Corporation's Financial Performance

Fiscal 2025 was a defintely strong year, demonstrating the platform's ability to capitalize on major events and digital trends, translating revenue growth into solid profitability and cash flow. Total revenue increased 17% year-over-year to $16.30 billion. Here's the quick math on the bottom line health:

• Adjusted EBITDA: Full-year Adjusted EBITDA rose 26% to $3.62 billion, showing strong operating leverage as revenue growth outpaced the rise in expenses.
• Net Income: Net income attributable to stockholders was $2.29 billion, a substantial increase from the prior year, reflecting the strong operational performance.
• Free Cash Flow (FCF): The company generated record free cash flow of approximately $3.0 billion. High FCF is crucial for returning capital to shareholders, as evidenced by the $5 billion increase to the share repurchase authorization announced in August 2025.
• Segment Performance: The Television Segment drove the most revenue at $9.33 billion (up 18%), largely due to the Super Bowl and political ad spend. The Cable Network Programming Segment, at $6.93 billion (up 16%), maintained its high-margin profile through affiliate fee increases and digital ad growth at FOX News Media.

What this estimate hides is the inherent volatility in the Television segment, which will see a dip in non-cyclical years without a Super Bowl or major political cycle. That's why the sustained growth in Tubi and the launch of FOX One are critical for long-term stability.

Fox Corporation (FOX) Market Position & Future Outlook

Fox Corporation maintains a highly profitable, differentiated market position by focusing on live content-specifically news and sports-which insulates it somewhat from the linear TV decline. The company posted a strong fiscal year 2025, with total revenues reaching $16.30 billion and Adjusted EBITDA hitting $3.62 billion, demonstrating operational strength despite industry headwinds. The near-term outlook is anchored in maximizing political advertising revenue and scaling its digital platforms like Tubi.

Competitive Landscape

Fox Corporation operates in a highly consolidated media landscape, competing against diversified giants with massive content libraries and global streaming scale. Its strategy is to dominate niche, high-value segments-live sports, news, and free ad-supported streaming (FAST)-rather than engaging in the costly, broad-spectrum subscription video on demand (SVOD) war.

Opportunities & Challenges

The company's future trajectory hinges on its ability to transition its high-margin linear advertising business to digital platforms without eroding its core affiliate fee base. The 2025 fiscal year saw advertising revenue surge to $7 billion, largely driven by the impact of Super Bowl LIX and record political advertising, a trend expected to continue.

Industry Position

Fox Corporation's industry standing is defined by its leadership in key content verticals, a strategic focus that has delivered exceptional financial performance. Its core assets are not easily replicated, defintely in the current fragmented media environment.

• News Dominance: FOX News Channel is the clear leader in cable news, maintaining over a 60% share of the cable news audience in FY 2025.
• Local Market Strength: FOX Television Stations are recognized as the #1 local news source, producing over 1,350 hours of local news weekly.
• Digital Growth Engine: Tubi reached over 100 million monthly active users in fiscal 2025, positioning Fox Corporation strongly in the free ad-supported streaming (FAST) market.
• Capital Allocation: The company continues to prioritize shareholder returns, increasing its share repurchase authorization by $5 billion to a total of $12 billion in August 2025.

This focus on live, premium content and a strong digital ad platform gives Fox Corporation a crucial buffer against the broader industry shift away from traditional cable bundles. You can explore the foundational principles guiding this strategy in the Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Fox Corporation (FOX).